Game:

Tokyo Jungle (2012)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 1:00:45

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19

Of all the games ever released, few are as outright bizarre or ingenious as "Tokyo Jungle", a game about a post-apocalyptic future version of Japan where mankind is basically extinct and where animals roam unchecked in a true bid of survival of the fittest. Originally released in 2012 and developed jointly by Japan Studio (an internal first party of SCE) and "Crispy's" (a small and inexperienced but passionate Japanese dev team led by Yohei Kataoka, who also worked on "Pandora's Tower" for the Wii and "Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day" on PS3), it saw an International release in digital format as well as a modified and down-scaled version a year later for Sony's PS Vita (Tokyo Jungle Mobile). The game culminated from random ideas tossed around in boilerplate fashion among a small group of enthusiasts who couldn't specifically settle on one direct theme or genre and what started out as a 2D courier RPG evolved into an abstract 3D action game where randomly generated events and proper resource management became central to the experience. The resulting byproduct is something that truly has to be experienced first-hand to draw your own conclusion.

To be clear, while "Tokyo Jungle" is unique in terms of its delivery, it is not (entirely) the first game of its kind in every regard and it will, hopefully, not be the last. For some minor comparisons and context, it draws some parallels to games such as the obscure (and now VERY expensive) "Cubivore, aka Animal Leader" released in the early days of Nintendo's GameCube (which actually started development on the N64, with the unreleased game being dumped some time ago) or Love-de-Lic's Japan-only Dreamcast gem, "L.O.L.: Lack of Love" and Atypical Alchemists Associate's "Seventh Cross Evolution" or SNES/SFC and PC-98's "E.V.O.: Search for Eden" (The SNES/SFC version moreso) or, of course, Maxis' "Spore". All the aforementioned games have the same underlying concept of "survival" as an evolving being at the forefront, but that is where most of the similarities end.

Tokyo Jungle (hereon referred to as TJ) has an overarching narrative and basic plot synopsis but it doesn't truly "end", as in, there is no real end-game. TJ doesn't present the player with multiple stages with streamlined objectives but presents one large area with randomly generated events and objectives triggered by performance and specie. TJ is not only extremely repetitive and grindy, but taunts the player with slow progression through constant animal mating (to pass down genes) and unlockable gear and new creatures and empowers players to become more resourceful and explore further and live longer through a lot of trial and error. Just when you think you're on to something, TJ throws bigger and badder predators and grazers into the mix or says "you're not reproducing fast enough" where you eventually succumb to old age. TJ tracks your progress through online leaderboards and ancestral DNA for all your favorite animals (and not so animals) and even offers a unique co-op experience where you and a friend must ration resources and work together to scrape out a plan to survive. TJ is merciless but also brilliant and highly experimental. Not all of its intentions resonated with the gaming public, but it is also safe to say that TJ was a sleeper hit of 2012.

Players can become a predator or grazer who adhere to their own ways of life and must find mates and survive in a world full of pollution and limited resources. Predators excel at eating others and combat where as grazers excel at stealth and escaping. Players cannot do both (here), so their survival tactics are quite different, but they must continue to move, secure territories, find mates (based on desperate, average or prime), evolve, and secure their place in the animal kingdom. When all else fails, dodge your foes or swiftly strike when the claw is hot for a mortal blow or clean kill. As players interact with the world, they'll eat their fill in Kcals, improve their rank, discover archives, form packs and even adorn their animals with stat-boosting swag. You will also unlock the individual tales of certain animals such as the beloved Pomeranian, Deer, Tosa, and more. It's all as wonderfully surreal as it is obtuse and, mechanically, is intuitive and executed quite well for the most part (multiplayer rewards far fewer points for unlocks but has the added benefit of not losing gear when an animal dies and clothes maintain durability).

On a technical level, the game is fairly poor. Slowdown is not uncommon, most textures are blurry, the game is capped at 720p (by default) and it looks like a decent PSP game with a few cool environmental effects and a very limited soundtrack. The game also becomes extreme at the 100 year mark and could benefit from online multiplayer. Fortunately, this doesn't reduce the fun factor and the game is highly recommended if you want something beyond the norm. This is a vid of various things within the 1hr mark. Enjoy.